Back in 2007, I wrote a post Data is Everywhere but Context is Rarediscussing the massive amounts of data being collected and how ‘context is king’ when it comes to understanding it. Now, with all the derived data we can create, tracking what is being create at the same time or who is reading it when, our understanding of the situation can be even deeper then we could think of back in 2007.

If you paid any attention to the CES the last couple of years, wearable technology had a great deal of the focus. This is more than just simply tracking basic data. It is about using the combined data of the wearable hardware, social networks and networking to find greater depth of information to use as a foundation of analysis.

Google Now is a good example of an application that gathers information from various sources so that your information needs can be anticipated and present information you didn’t even know you needed.

For most business (that spend most of their money on systems of record) a more contextually aware approach can take the existing information to whole new levels of value. I posted quite a few times on the concept of application portfolio assessment. It is time that greater focus should be applied to the organizations contextual portfolio. What do we actually know? What should we know? What would it take to address the gap?